Latest news with #Anne'sLaw
Daily Record
18-06-2025
- Health
- Daily Record
Scots campaigners welcome move towards care home change but 'the fight goes on'
Plans to transform social care will be progressed after the Scottish Parliament approved the Care Reform (Scotland) Bill with the support of 116 MSPs. Campaigners have welcomed progress towards enshrining vital care home protections – but warned their fight isn't over. SNP ministers pledged to change the law to give relatives legal visiting rights in the wake of the pandemic, which saw thousands of elderly people die alone in locked down institutions. The Sunday Mail has campaigned for Anne's Law alongside Campbell Duke, whose wife Anne died in isolation aged 62 with early onset Alzheimer's disease, for visiting protections to be introduced. But progress stalled when the government scrapped its plans for a National Care Service and replaced it with the Care Reform Bill. Now, plans to transform social care will be progressed after the Scottish Parliament approved the Care Reform (Scotland) Bill with the support of 116 MSPs. Anne's Law will uphold the rights of family and friends to be named as 'essential care supporters' and require care homes to allow visits from them in all but the most extreme circumstances. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. Cathie Russell, from the Care Home Relatives Scotland group, said the Bill's approval was to be welcomed but guidance to support Anne's Law was still to be seen. She said: "We have worked closely with the Government and MPs from all parties for nearly five years now to try and make sure the brutally inhumane things that happened in 2020 and 2021 don't happen again. "We were never simply visitors. As husbands, wives, sons, daughters and mothers, we were our loved ones' main carers before and after they went into a care home. "We must be able to maintain personal contact to love and care for vulnerable relatives as we always did." Campbell welcomed the move but said there was more still to be done. He said: "It took Government, Parliament and Civic Scotland five years to finally be persuaded to pass legislation. There remains much work to be done in shaping Codes of Conduct and Regulations to future-proof this legislation. The fight goes on."
Scotsman
11-06-2025
- Health
- Scotsman
Sunita Poddar, CEO of Oakminster Healthcare: Information sharing is the most pressing update in the Care Reform (Scotland) Bill
I welcome the Scottish Parliament's approval of the Care Reform (Scotland) Bill as a necessary and timely step toward strengthening the future of social care in Scotland. Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The most critical element of this reform - and one that will have the greatest immediate impact - is the improvement to how information is shared across health and social care. Ensuring seamless communication and the ability to track the care journey of residents and patients across settings is key to delivering safe, person-centred support. For too long, duplication, gaps in information, and siloed systems have added unnecessary stress to individuals and families. This change will help provide continuity, clarity and dignity in care. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad At Oakminster Healthcare, we are already focused on delivering personalised, relationship-based care - centred on human connection and respect. These reforms will help us build on that, with the right tools and data to better coordinate care and support. Sunita Poddar, CEO of Oakminster Healthcare The enshrinement of Anne's Law is a powerful and compassionate step forward. The right to remain connected to a named loved one, even in times of crisis, is something no person in care should be denied.
Glasgow Times
10-06-2025
- Health
- Glasgow Times
Care reform Bill passed unanimously at Holyrood
The Scottish Government proposed to shift accountability for providing social care to ministers and create local bodies that would be responsible for administering care. But serious opposition from political parties, local authorities and trade unions resulted in the plans being ripped out of the Bill despite around £30 million being spent on its development. The name of the Bill was eventually changed to the Care Reform (Scotland) Bill and it was passed with the support of 116 MSPs on Tuesday. Speaking about the failed proposals for the creation of a National Care Service, Scottish Tory health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane said: 'Let's not pretend we've arrived at this moment by design. 'We're here because of yet another SNP policy that promised the world and delivered a fiasco. 'The now defunct National Care Service Bill was once hailed as the most significant reform to health and social care since the creation of the NHS. 'But, in reality, it was a half-baked plan dreamt up by ministers, clearly in an ivory tower that was dead in the water before the ink had dried on the first draft.' While Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: 'The way we care for our most vulnerable is more important than party politics. 'That is why Scottish Labour committed to help the Scottish Government deliver such a service, but as I warned at the time, the devil would be in the detail.' The Scottish Government, Ms Baillie claimed, 'attempted a power grab'. 'Four years later, three first ministers later, three health secretaries later and £31 million later and what we have before us is a drastically reduced Bill with not a National Care Service in sight, and not a single extra penny of that money going directly to social care,' she added. Despite the changes, social care minister Maree Todd said the Government remained committed to the creation of a National Care Service. The remaining provisions will implement changes to the existing care system, the biggest of which has been dubbed 'Anne's Law'. The change will allow family and friends to be named as 'essential care supporters' and require care homes to facilitate visits from them in all but the most extreme circumstances. The proposals grew from a Scottish Parliament petition by Natasha Hamilton, who was unable to visit her mother Anne Duke in her care home during the pandemic, ultimately missing her death. Speaking in Holyrood on Tuesday, Ms Todd praised the work of campaigners for Anne's Law, some of whom were watching proceedings from the public gallery. 'I have been profoundly impacted by the conversations that I have had with them,' she said. 'The emotional harm and trauma that they and their loved ones and many others suffered from being unable to see one another for such long, isolating periods during the pandemic must be acknowledged to make sure that this never happens again.' As well as Anne's Law, the legislation will also give unpaid carers the right to take breaks.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
MSPs vote to introduce scaled-back social care reforms
MSPs have unanimously passed legislation which will allow people in care homes to receive visits from a named loved one even in restricted measures. The Care Reform (Scotland) Bill will also introduce changes to social care procurement and a new right to breaks for unpaid carers. The legislation was backed by 116 votes to none. Plans to introduce a national care service, which were initially part of the bill, were dropped in January after unions withdrew support and a number of health boards and care organisations expressed concerns. One of the big changes planned under the new law is a legal right to breaks for unpaid carers. This mean councils will have a duty to decide whether a carer is able to take sufficient breaks from their caring role. If they are not, then the local authority will provide support to enable this, such as providing funding for short respite breaks. This policy, given Scotland has around 700,000 unpaid carers, will cost between £196m and £315m by 2035/36, according to the Bill's financial memorandum. However, it remains a fraction of the £13.9bn that unpaid care is currently saving Scotland every year. Improvements to the way information is shared in health and social care - to make it less likely that people will have to repeat their information - as well changes to procurement rules in the sector are also planned. Beefing up the powers that watchdogs can take against failing care providers is also part of the bill. The most high-profile part of the Care Reform (Scotland) Bill is Anne's Law, which allows people in care homes to receive visits from a named loved one even in restricted measures. It is named after Anne Duke, who died aged 63 in November 2021 after being cut off from her family while battling early-onset dementia during the Covid pandemic. The original proposal for a National Care Service, inspired by the NHS, was to take social care provision and staff away from local authorities into a new national agency. That was then dropped in favour of creating a national care board to supervise service delivery and improve consistency - but this failed to win over a growing number of critics. Council body Cosla and trade unions then withdrew their support for the project, while a number of health boards and care organisations also expressed concerns. The plan, which was also subject to a series of delays, was eventually scrapped in January after £30m was spent on the process. Social Care Minister Maree Todd said at the time she was "still committed to the ambitions of the National Care Service" but added the SNP no longer had the support it needed in parliament to pass its original plans into law. How the SNP's flagship social care reforms were scaled back Why was Scotland's National Care Service scrapped?
The National
10-06-2025
- Health
- The National
Care reform Bill passes unanimously at Holyrood
The Care Reform (Scotland) Bill was passed with the support of 116 MSPs on Tuesday and aims to bring forward a number of enhancements to social care. The Bill originally proposed the creation of a National Care Service but was scrapped after serious opposition from political parties, local authorities, and trade unions, despite around £30 million being spent on its development. However, Social Care Minister Maree Todd said the Government remained committed to the creation of a National Care Service. READ MORE: Controversial Loch Lomond Flamingo Land plans recalled by Scottish ministers The remaining provisions will implement changes to the existing care system, the biggest of which has been dubbed 'Anne's Law'. The change will allow family and friends to be named as 'essential care supporters' and require care homes to facilitate visits from them in all but the most extreme circumstances. The proposals grew from a Scottish Parliament petition by Natasha Hamilton, who was unable to visit her mother Anne Duke in her care home during the pandemic, ultimately missing her death. Speaking in Holyrood on Tuesday, Todd praised the work of campaigners for Anne's Law, some of whom were watching proceedings from the public gallery. (Image: Scottish Parliament) 'I have been profoundly impacted by the conversations that I have had with them,' she said. 'The emotional harm and trauma that they and their loved ones and many others suffered from being unable to see one another for such long, isolating periods during the pandemic must be acknowledged to make sure that this never happens again.' She added: Reform is not easy to deliver and it is being made more challenging by recent UK Government changes to Employer National Insurance Contributions and changes to migration. These will undoubtedly impact on care delivery. 'However, we have remained steadfast in our commitment to deliver the sustainable change to social care that people urgently need. 'This is a significant step that will strengthen the rights of people living in care homes, support unpaid carers and social workers and improve experiences for the many people who access social care across Scotland.' Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: 'The way we care for our most vulnerable is more important than party politics. 'That is why Scottish Labour committed to help the Scottish Government deliver such a service, but as I warned at the time, the devil would be in the detail.'
